SO the Scottish Government is not being allowed to hold a referendum on Scottish independence. This process has been refused by the leader of the Conservative Party, which has just been fined £70,000 for alleged electoral fraud, sorry “maladministration” (“Treasurer faces probe as Tories are fined £70,000”, The Herald, March 17)

The cost to the taxpayer for this investigation will be considerable – 16 police forces still working on inquiries and more individual Members of Parliament still under scrutiny. Will we ever hear what the overall figure is to date, or will that be buried in a future inquiry lasting a year or two?

This flawed electoral process has perhaps denied other potential MPs their rightful place in Westminster. As one of them is Nigel Farage we might not have heard the end of this.

It also appears to have enraged some individual Conservative MPs who are being investigated by police and who have complained of being abandoned by Central Office.

The Conservative Party political hubris that has been on display throughout the entire process of leaving the European Union may well come back to haunt it. The practice of sniping at your opponents when you feel that you are in control, has a horrible habit of rebounding on you when you are in a vulnerable position.

But to return to the question of the Scottish referendum on independence; even opponents of the referendum like Peter Mandelson acknowledge the justice of the case. Theresa May has refused to consider any of the key proposals by the Scottish Government paper on Scottish access to the European Market and free movement of people.

It does seem curious that the Prime Minister felt the need to make a statement about the Scottish Referendum on independence when the Scottish Parliament is due to debate this next week.

Can it be that there is a Westminster effort to distract media attention from matters closer to home?

Dhevaraj Chetty,

36 Woodend Drive, Glasgow.